An Amardesh investigation alleges that insufficient water releases from India’s Ganges pushed the Padma River level at Hardinge Bridge below the threshold needed to operate the Ganges-Kapotaksha irrigation project in 2024. Pumps at the main station in Bheramara, Kushtia, were shut from February 19 until water levels rose above 4.5 metres in the last week of May, according to project and hydrology officials cited in the report.

The report says the public was told all three pumps had failed, although two were operational at the time. Project officials said pumping is not feasible below 4.5 metres because water must be drawn from 0.70 to 1.20 kilometres away, despite the pumps’ stated capability at 3.96 metres. One official described the earlier mechanical-failure explanation as an instructed rather than actual report.

The project serves 13 upazilas across Kushtia, Chuadanga, Jhenaidah and Magura. Officials and farmer representatives said the shutdown disrupted irrigation, lowered groundwater availability and caused severe water shortages and crop losses. The report says Bangladesh recorded dry-season levels below 4.5 metres in 23 of 30 years after the 1996 Farakka agreement.